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Apple 2019 Is Just Like Apple From 1983

You know what they say, right? “The more things change, the more they remain the same.” Apple was doomed back in the early 1980s, then doomed again in the 1990s, and Apple in the 21st century certainly must be doomed. Again.

What’s the problem? Apple has yet to learn the lessons of history. Or, that’s how the meme goes. The Mac is 35 years old. Older than the Mac is Apple’s first point and click personal computer. Lisa. What did you get for $5 less than $10,000? What did Apple learn from the Lisa?

Crazy Comparisons

Richard Speed wants us to believe that Apple hardware is priced so high that no one wants to buy it. How so?

It’s 1983 All Over Again

Looks to me as if Richard was in elementary school in 1983 so it’s unlikely he has experience with an Apple Lisa.

Featuring exotic hardware (including a mighty megabyte of RAM, considerably more than the 128 kilobytes of the IBM XT which would put in an appearance less than two months later) the Lisa was an exercise in seeing how much money Apple could squeeze out of the faithful.

I’m rather certain that Sir Richard read that on Wikipedia. Just remember that Apple didn’t have too many faithful back in the day. I was there. I know. Today’s Apple customer base is well north of 1-billion. Back then it was perhaps a few million.

Why was Lisa priced at $10,000? Someone at Apple was crazy and the device didn’t sell too well despite bristling with next generation hardware and software.

Today’s Apple continues to push its prices ever higher, the company might want to look at its own past as well as the present for the consequences.

Yeah, Apple might. But why? Even the lowly iPhone 7– Apple’s lowest priced iPhone at $449– is more than 1/20th the price tag of a Lisa from 1983, and far more powerful. Maybe Apple is on to something here. More power, less money.

Sure, you can think Apple is raising prices, but it looks to me that a perspective modification is in order.

A $9,995 Lisa in 1983 would cost more than $25,000 in 2019 dollars. Apple packs more power and more capability into an iPhone 7 for $449. What about the Mac? It launched in 1983 with a price tag of $2,495, but in 2019 dollars that would buy you an iMac Pro. More powerful, less money.

I think Apple is onto something with this more power and less money strategy.

The original iPad was $499. That’s $560 today, yet a much improved iPad with Touch ID and onscreen Pencil support is only $329. The original iPhone debuted at $599 in 2007. Today, that’s worth almost $750 which is about the same price as a new iPhone XR. Which would you prefer to own and use?

Yeah, I get it. The Register is a snarky digital rag that bites the hand that feeds IT. It’s just too bad nobody across the pond can figure out how much Apple has done for the technology industry since 1983.

5G? Meh!

About Jeffrey Mincey

As a Mac, Windows, and Linux system administrator in Atlanta, Georgia, I've used Macs for almost 30 years (mostly late at night). Read more of my articles here. Check out my Mac tips, tricks, and app reviews at Bohemian Boomer.